Nail-plate holder



W. BATTELLE. NAIL PLATE HOLDER.

N0. 17,778. Patented July 14, 1857.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BATTELLE, OF NEW CASTLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

NAILQPLATE HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,778, dated July 14, 1857.

.. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BATTELLE, of New Castle, in the count of Lawrence and State of Pennsylvania, ave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Nail-Plate Holders for Feeding the Plate to Nail-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents in perspective the nail plate holder in question, and Fig. 2 represents a perspective view of the same, w1th one of the jaws removed, and the lever for openin the holder in place.

Similar letters of reference where they occur in the separate figures denote like parts of the apparatus in both.

The object of this invention is to avoid the defects found in nail plate holders as at present used, of which there are several viz, the liability of the jaws to sli past each other; the tendency of the p ate to move out of position by the working of the jaws; the liability of the ring which confines the jaws to be knocked back by the lever with which they are opened to receive the plate, and the loosening of the handle upon which the nippers are placed. And the 7 nature of my invention consists in making the jaws of the nipper or holder se arate from the socket, but confining them t ereto by a ring, which also holds the two jaws together, and inserting into the socket or socket head, a guide piece between the jaws, against which the lever rests while prying open the jaws, said guide preventing the lever from slipping which would often knock back the mug and thus loosen the plate. This construction allowing of a solid socket, instead of a split one and of course a more permanent fastening of the handle thereto.

Inmaking nails by machinery, the feeding in of the nail plate, though apparently the simplest part of the operation, is in reality the mostdifficult, owing to the many prerequisites, viz: The feeding in of the plates while hot; the non-stoppageiof the nail machine, and the necessity of having a blank in ever time the header comes up, the speed of t e machines, and the time required to chan e the nippers, and yet keep pace with t e ra id motions of the machines. All these t gs depend upon the certainty of the feeding in of the nail plates at proper temperatures, and with exact regularity of time, the least deviation from the pace of the nail machines resulting in loss of time and economy in the manufacture.

I have obviated many of the difficulties attending the ordinary nippers, by a simple construction of nail-plate holders, as follows:

A is a socket wrought on a socket-head B, into which socket a handle is fitted and permanently held. On the socket head is made a tenon C, upon which the jaws D, D, snugly fit, and when in their lace, a ring E, is driven over the ends of the jaws, and the tenon, holding them firmly to each other. Should one of the jaws break, or should it be desirable to substitute others, they can be removed, and replaced readily by starting back the ring E.

Between the jaws D, and in the end of the tenon C, is fixed a guide piece F, it being screwed or otherwise fastened therein, and projecting forward toward the points of the nippers, far enough to allow the lever or pry G, with which the jaws are opened to freely enter for that purpose. The object of this guide piece is to confine the lever to the point where the jaws are most easily spread, and to prevent the lever from slipping back or out and striking the rin E, which releases the jaws and revents t em from tightly grasping the nai late.

The common way of making t e jaws is to take two tubular pieces of steel, necessarily thin, and hold them together by a ring, the parts in the rear of the ring forming the socket, and thosein advance of it the jaws. I make the socket, socket head, ring, and guide of iron, and the jaws of plate steel, and thus have more bearing surface at their points where the late is clasped.

Having thus fu ly described the nature and object of my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by WM. I-I. BATTELLE.

Witnesses:

P. A. WILBUR, G. O. MORGAN. 

